Sauces

It's a fact that all the most famous and commonest sauces were invented in the 17th, 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. What is more interesting the authors of such inventions were often people of wealth and nobility, for example well – known béchamel was created by Louis de Bechamel who was the son of famous French attaché and ethnographer. The popular mayonnaise is being connected with the name of the 18th century general duke Louis de Crillon, the first governor of Mahon.

As they say “An architect hides his mistakes by planting vines, a doctor can bury his mistakes in the ground but a chef uses sauce to hide his ones.” And it's really true as sauce is that wander which is able to turn ordinary salad into the feast for the stomach and gives the dish its incredible taste. The word sauce came from France and that's not surprising as this country is the home for numerous famous sauces. At the beginning of the 20th century a brilliant French chef August Escoffier (who was called the king of cooks and the cook of kings) made his own classification of sauces dividing them into 5 families: béchamel, veloute or white, Spanish, Dutch and tomato sauces.

Béchamel has been at our disposal since 1651. According to the recipe some milk and salt should be added to the mixture of slightly fried white flour and butter. It’s perfect for serving pasta and lasagna. Béchamel family consists of Morney sauce –some grated cheese is added to béchamel – a splendid choice for seafood and vegetable dishes, and nantua sauce - some shrimps and cream is added to béchamel.

However veloute is a distant relative of béchamel sauce it can also show off its rather venerable age – it’s been known since 1553 to be exact. It’s the sauce which is based on light chicken or veal broth with the addition of white flour, butter, salt and pepper. It’s usually served with seafood or poultry. This family members are: Aurora sauce ( veloute + tomato puree), Hungarian sauce ( veloute+ paprika, onion and white wine), Allemande ( veal broth +lemon juice, yolk and cream), Supreme ( chicken broth+ cream and sliced mushrooms), Vin Blanc (fish broth+ shallot, butter and white wine).

Espagnole (Spanish sauce) is the main brown sauce. Its base is the same mixture of flour and butter fried to dark brown shade. This blend is added to veal broth along with meat, vegetables and seasonings. Hollandaise is actually an emulsion of yolks and melted butter. Its modern recipe is dated back to the 19th century. The sauce is usually seasoned with lemon juice, salt and black, white or Caen pepper. This smooth, creamy sauce is a perfect match to fish, seafood, vegetables and eggs. The family includes Dijon sauce (Hollandaise + Dijon mustard) and of course a wide range of mayonnaise such as remoulade (mayonnaise with greens, mustard, anchovies and capers), tartar (mayonnaise with nicely chopped greens, mustard and pickles), Russian sauce (mayonnaise with lobster broth and a bit of caviar). And the last but not least in this list is tomato sauce. Its numerous variations are served with pasta, meat and vegetable dishes. And of course its best – known one ketchup can be eaten with all the dishes you can imagine. So get inspired with such amazing world of sauces and you'll be able to create culinary masterpieces in your own kitchen.